Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1887-04-21
CHEWING IS BAD FORM.
A HABIT THAT Is RAPIDLY BE-
COMING OBSOLETE.

Men are Taking to substitutes-The Cen
venient Slip of slippery Eln-Lioorice.
How Roscoe Conkling Broke Up Bad
Habit.
Manufacturers Of tobacco say that the habit
of chewing is rapidly becoming as obsolete as
that Of snuff taking, except among working
men. "You will find some of the older men
of wealth and refinement who chew nova
days" said large dealer, "but they acquired
the habit wears ago when it was not thought
vulgar or disreputable to chew. Some of
the older judges chew, and there were
members of the supreme court Of the
United States who were not easy on the
bench unless they had a quid. A very
few clergymen use tobacco in this way, and
not few of the older lawyers and other pro-
fessional men of years. But in the younger
generation of cultivated men of good manners
there are very few, comparatively, now to
be found who chew. The young men Of to-
day rarely acquire the habit, and predict
that within the next few years users of the
weed in this form will be only those who be-
long to the less cultivated society. 1t is now
regarded very bad form to chew, though
thirty years ago it was not. No; chewing Is
going the way Of snuff taking"
Many of our most prominent public men
have fought hard TO overcome this habit. In
Chicago and st. Louis chewing is now re-
garded as vulgar by persons who make any
pretensions to social standing, and many Of
the devices employed by men TO overcome the
habit are amusing. At the late trial Of Max
well in st. Louis the three prosecuting ON
GERS were noticed constantly chewing during
the trial, and one of them said: ~Yes, we are
chewing spruce gum, and we are doing it 70
break the hahiI Of chewing tobacco, and il
you will notice on the street you Will see
three men out Of five Il mean, of course, those
who are not workingmenl vigorously work
ing their jaws. They are chewing gum, for
there seems to be sort Of tacit agreement
among gen lemen here to quit chewing TO-
bacco.
4 BsN OF SLIPPERY ELM.
Many men now carry . strip of slippery
elm in their pocket, and when they feel the
old craving come over them then they bite off
q bit and chew it. A down town druggist
said that he sold a great deal Of hcorice root
10 men who were trying to break the tobacco
habit. Roscoe Conkling used to chew, al.
though he never used tobacco prepared for
C0cWlnk. no utu q uMDib VI bhA1lAS . kOOu
cigar, cutting it in two in the middle. Than
placing the cut end Of one of the halves be-
tween his teeth be would chew 1t. He did not
take what Ben Butler is 50 fond of, dry
smoke, as it is called, but he chewed the
cigar He determined 30 break this habit,
and TO help him the more easily to conquer it
he filled his pockets with lozenges or other
choice candies every morning. Conkling has
g., -. <<yNl
candy. The last three or four years he was
in the senate he was rarely without lozenge
or other candy in his mouth
Senator Eaton and Senator Jones, of Flor
ida, were both pets of Conkling, and both
being pets of Conkling, and both being very
fond of candy, almost daily performed this
little comedy: Eaton would stroll over TO
Conklings desk and chat a few moments.
never failing to evince the profound admira-
tion for Conkling that he had. By and by he
would say: "Conkling, what do you do when
your throat is dry and huskyp Thereupon
Conkling would produce box in which were
the sugar plums and Eaton, taking two or
three, would stroll leisurely away with one in
his mouth. By and by Jones would walk
across the aisle and make his obeisance 10
Conkling Then he would cough and hem
and clear his throat Out would come the
box, and Jones made himself happy with two
or three candies after sufficient hesitation
about taking them. Once when Jones, Of
Nevada, was making a long speech and his
voice grew husky, Conkling arose, pulled his
box of CONNECTIONS from his pocket and pre-
sented it to the miner with as much formality
and dignity as though comforting the order Of
the garter. He afterward told Jones that If
he would eat more candy and use less tobacco
he would have no trouble with his voice.
But if the habit of chewing is decreasing
that of smoking is gaining. The coming gen
Grafton, by all signs, viii all smoke.-New
York Sun.